Saturday, August 31, 2013

Pardon the exclamation marks on all of these, but they are on the package so what can I do?

Darth
Vader is certainly a more robust figure than the original series.
While his height has not been improved to be more to scale with the rest
of the figures, he certainly seems more muscular (despite wearing a
survival suit). Muscular was the trend with this new batch, though.

Like
the Luke and Ben figures, Darth was originally packaged with a longer
saber at first, which shrunk in later shipments when Kenner said "OMG!
Look at the size of that thing!" The bio card on the back gives a
fleeting mention to a confrontation with Obi-Wan, but no mention of
Darth's exact injuries. However, I swear there was an earlier card that
mentioned a "molten pit," but I can't seem to find mention of it
anywhere. Maybe just my imagination.

Five reasons you should get this figure:
1. Dark Lord of the Sith! Hell yes you're getting this figure!

2. Last words on the bio card are "down the thermal exhaust port." Oh, yeah.

3. There's no Darth TIE fighter on the back of this card, but you know it's a-comin!

4. Fight Luke! Fight Obi-Wan! Fight fashion!

5. Obi-Wan needs a comeuppance, what with all the limb-slashing and whatnot.

Friday, August 30, 2013

While
the new C-3PO does not have the grey half-leg, he does sport a rather
shiny exterior, and is not overly muscular like others in this new
line. Of course, had he been overly muscular to begin with, Anthony
Daniels would have had a much better time fitting into the suit.

C-3PO
does not come with any accessories, as might be expected. He has no
major variations (except maybe on the card itself). His bio card starts
with the events in Star Wars, Episode IV, but does not conflict with
info from the prequels, simply because it does not mention his history
that far back.

Five reasons you should get this figure:
1. Foil a daylight robbery - "Ah, my eyes! So shiny!"

2. Now with rotating waist you can finally re-enact that famous console-touching scene!

3. A new generation of C-3PO to wear the shine off of!

4. The on figure you don't feel very guilty beating on.

5. Always the easiest to find, in stores and at home.

Backstory:

While his bio card simply starts at his service on the Tantive IV, the
prequels have fleshed this out to his improbable creation by Anakin
Skywalker, and his kidnapping from the Lars farm to Geonosis and
convenient memory wipe. His full story can be seen here on Wookieepedia.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

In the green-packed waves of POTF2 figures, Kenner started blazing through the bounty hunters, and everyone's favorite Wookiee scalper was no exception. He includes his standard weapon and an additional blaster, which, being a bounty hunter, is just fine and not just due to Kenner's zeal for extra weapons in this line.

The figure itself is pretty well detailed, but could be a little taller, to be in scale with other human figures.

Five reasons to own this figure:

1. No one wears rolled-up sleeves in the SW universe like Bossk.

2. Can repeatedly use the phrase, "Like a Bossk!"

3. Own one of the few characters that is shown in Clone Wars and the main Trilogy. Wait - did I say few? I meant every-character-they-could-legitimately-say-lives-that-long.

4. Re-create his thrilling battle against other bounty hunters to get Solo! You don't know about that? Shut down the computer and pick up a book you troglodyte!

5. Perfect for that terrarium.

Backstory:

Bossk is a Trandoshan, who when born, ate his hatchmates. Quite the beginning. He went on to hunt Wookiees for the Empire (and sport) become a bounty hunter, and lead the Bounty Hunter's Guild (while fractioning it). He clashed and worked with other bounty hunters from time to time, including Zuckuss and Boba Fett. His last appearance was in a jail on a space station being attacked by the Yuuzhan Vong (a later antagonizing race). No word on if he survived.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Chewbacca is a decent figure, and an improvement on the original, but where is the scale! In the movies he towers over humans. In the figure line he is more or less the same size.

Chewbacca looks a bit like Bigfoot in this new version, but if you look at the beefed-up versions of Han and Luke, you can see what they were doing in the chest region there.

Chewy also has a bio card, as all the first wave of figures did in the return, and it covers the events in Star Wars: A New Hope, and a tiny bit about being rescued by Han and oweing a life-debt. Nothing, however, about his treetop home, growling kids and wife, or Life Day.

Five reasons why you should buy this figure:
1. Look at the back of the card - the Millennium Falcon needs a co-pilot.

2. Recreate all the exciting scenes from the Star Wars Holiday Special - like the first 20 minutes of nothing but Wookiee utterances!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Boba was kind of the second wave after the first release of the major characters (shown on the back of the package), and one of the more impressive updates from the original line. You see all the bumps and scrapes, the weapon is actually a sawed-off blaster rather than a stock gun, jet pack comes off, and you can see the wookiee braids. However, he is still a littl more muscular like the new Han and Luke (didn't want to be left out).

Hi bio card is kept vague about his past, "few facts are known about the man called Boba Fett," probably because they never saw The Clone Wars, so it is still applicable.

Five reasons why you should get this figure:
1. C'mon, really? It's Boba-freaking Fett!

2. Finally, visual accompaniment to your wookieescalp fetish.

3. Yes! The jet pack fires...I mean, is removable.

4. No one wears "scuffed-up" quite like Boba.

5. Re-enact the never-done scene where Boba confronts Jango's ghost with the help of his therapist.

Backstory:

As more episodes of The Clone Wars progress, more of Boba's young life is seen, especially his antagonism towards Mace Windu (what, mad about your dad's decapitation crybaby?). For all that is known about him, check out his full bio with sources at Wookieepedia.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Again, Han was never seen in the movies with a heavy assault rifle, so this is a bit of license on Kenner's part.

This
version of Han is still a bit muscular, otherwise the figure is pretty
accurate. I find it hard to get excited about this figure though,
because it is nothing spectacular, and they probably produced a zillion
of these.

Five reasons to get this figure:

1. Han's best lady-catching attire.

2. Look at the picture of the figure without looking at the enlargement: if you wanted a Fonzie figure, there it is.

3. Recreate the talk with Luke on Hoth, and how Han goaded Luke's own sister into kissing him (hee, hee).

4. Recreate the shooting Darth Vader with a blaster in the dining room scene. Only this time with the rifle: "Deflect this!"

5. Can't be dodging asteroids in any other outfit.

Backstory:

Han
was a youth growing up on Corellia and eventually joined the
Imperial forces. After rescuing Chewbacca he left the Empire and went
into gambling and smuggling. The rest, as they say, is history. Of
course, after the movies he and Leia married, had 3 Jedi, and had
many more adventures.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

In
1995, 12 years after the release of the last movie, and 2 years before
the Special Editions would be released, Kenner decided to start their
line of Star Wars action figure anew. The new line is considered
"Power of the Force 2" because they retained the POTF logo.

The
line started with the core characters, old Obi-Wan, Darth, Luke, Han,
C-3PO, R2, Leia, Chewy, Stormtrooper. More waves successfully followed
and here we are 16 years later and the production of Star Wars figures
has not stopped once (although it has long stopped being under the
POTF2 line).

Obi-Wan came first with a "long saber"
variation (the lightsaber reached the top of the package, versus the
one you see here) and later with the length you see here - one of many
phallic intentions in Kenner's new line.

Keep in mind
that the prequels did not come out until 4 years after this line
debuted, so Obi-Wan is completely based on the original trilogy, but
his back-of-the-card bio is kept intentionally vague about his younger
years so it still applies.

Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:
1.
Relive the famous line "Where did you dig up that old fossil?" by
burying him in the sandbox to be discovered later (by you or the
neighborhood cat).

2. Get the long and short saber variations to compare post and pre-Viagra Ben.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Now
here is a figure that warrants having that extra rifle in the cockpit.
Wookiees and Ewoks beatin' on your hatch, yanking you up, tossing you
like last week's garbage. Heck ya you need some personal firepower!

While
not pictured on the back of the figure's own card, the AT-ST was one
of the first vehicles produced in the new line, so, naturally, they had
to come out with the pilot. Probably one of the less exciting
uniforms in the Imperial army, but there you have it.

3. Recreate Return of the Jedi, but this time an Ewok gets a blaster in their face.

4. Army builder - have him line up in your "meet the Emperor" scene.

5. Closest figure to a Spaceballs henchman you'll find.

Backstory:

AT-ST
Drivers wore very light armor compared to their AT-AT counterpart.
Funny, considering the AT-AT was already more armored than an AT-ST.
They carried standard equipment, such as a blaster, rifle, grenades,
thermal detonators, flares, comlinks, and spare ammo. The helmets and
goggles were also standard, but many chose not to wear the goggles.

Interesting
side note: ROTJ’s director, Richard Marquand, was one of the AT-ST
Drivers beaten down by Chewbacca and the Ewoks and the person pictured
on the card.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Don't
recognize the ASP-7? That's because, until the release of the Special
Editions that added a longer Mos Eisley scene, it didn't exist. Now,
you can clearly see one picking up rods (chuckle). In fact, they make
no bones about it - look at the package: "From the newly-created
footage in The Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition." I use to be excited
by something like this, now I just think "They're just printing more
money!"

While it's an okay droid figure, I just felt it was never fleshed out like others. Where are some wires? Where are the knobs?

Five reasons to own this figure:

1. The only way to get Star Wars supply rods. Really, where is our accessory pack just for these?

2. Nice and creepy- no eyes, just a slit.

3. Cylon alert! Slit for eyes. Insert your own oscillating red LED for the full effect.

4. "From the newly created footage!" Come on, you have to buy it just for the laugh factor.

5. Did I mention supply rods? SUPPLY RODS!

Backstory:

The
ASP-7 is apparently a worker droid, but other materials also mention
that the ASP-7 model is used as a trainer for Darth Vader's lightsaber
practice.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Zuckuss’s
actual name is 4-LOM, since he is the droid and Zuckuss is the alien
bounty hunter. This was mixed up in the original Kenner line (as
stated in my last post) but corrected in subsequent lines and
literature. The figure has a gun-metal gray finish, but the actual
character is more of a navy blue with orange rusty highlights.

Zuckuss
came with a rather large blaster rifle, and his body was very similar
to C-3PO’s, aside from his insectoid head. He came on ESB and ROTJ
cardbacks.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:

1. As stated before, you must have all the bounty hunters. This is a coolness imperative.

2. He just looks like a badass with those glaring bug eyes.

3. Droids with guns are cool. Death Star Droid? Not so much.

4. Create your own scene where you finally figure who is the better droid bounty hunter: Zuckuss or IG-88?

5. All your non-geek friends will wonder who in the hell this is. All your geek friends will simply appreciate you for it.

Backstory:

4-LOM
(as I will now correctly call him) was built by Industrial
Automaton, who ripped off many of its design elements from Cybot
Galactica’s 3PO series. 4-LOM’s earliest posting was on a luxury
liner working as a cabin steward. Eventually, he came to the
conclusion that the best way to protect passenger’s valuables was to
take them himself. After
modifying his own programming, he made crime more enjoyable, and
after falling into the employ of Jabba the Hutt, started work as a
bounty hunter.

He partnered with Zuckuss many time on bounties, the two becoming friends. After
the Battle of Hoth, the two became Rebels for awhile, but
eventually went back to bounty hunting after being almost destroyed
by Boba Fett.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Yak Face – you know him, you love him. Well,
you probably don’t actually know him since he is only briefly seen
on Jabba’s Sand Barge and he is a nonsentient piece of plastic, but
you have to love the challenge of getting a figure like this. Yak Face was going to be the 93rd
figure in the line, but with declining sales the line was stopped at
92. However, Yak Face was still released in Europe, Canada, and
Australia, just never in the U.S. So, it is naturally a little rare.

Yak face comes with the same battle staff as Barada,
and only comes on a POTF card. Oh, and did I not mention it only
came…not in the U.S.? Kenner bastards! I mean, c’mon! What kid didn’t
want a Yak Face after seeing his pivotal 5 seconds in the film?
Anyway,
you had to get this figure while you could, because when word got
out that the line was done – well, you can guess that the rest were
snatched up. This is still not the rarest Star Wars figure, however.
That honor goes to Vlix.

When
Saelt-Marae as he was now called was re-released in the 90's line,
is was rather anti-climactic. Yes, you couldn't find this character
during the old line, but the new one clogged up the shelves
big-time.

Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:

1. There was not a more phallic looking figure in the Kenner line.

2. That faux-fur collar? Who’s he kidding?

3. Rarest figure in the POTF line (well, debatable. Rarest figure only run in the POTF line).

4. Debate with your friends if it is more of a Yak Face, or a Camel Face.

5. Speaking of which, the closest match to Joe Camel you'll get.

Backstory:

Yak
Face's real name was Saelt-Marae, a Yarkora and long-lived at that.
He spent 200 years alone just wooing his mate. He was a con man and
often an informant for both sides of the Galactic Civil War. He was
an informant for Jabba and managed to escape the Sand Barge (and
steal a few secrets) before it blew up.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Yoda,
like the Ewoks that succeeded him, was a figure released a little
later during the ESB line to preserve the surprise of the character.
Oh, and for all of you who, for some reason, are reading this site
and have not seen The Empire Strikes Back: Vader is Luke's father.

For
a little guy, Yoda had several variations. First, he came in
slightly different shades of green. Hmm, Yoda, Kermit - both green.
Second, his cane went from one shade of brown to a darker one. Third
(and fourth I guess), his snake went from orange to brown, and also
got sculpted slightly differently.

Card
variations include ESB, two ROTJ cards (one had the original ESB
background photo, the other had more of a profile shot), and a POTF
card. Starting with the ROTJ card the name changed from "Yoda" to
"Yoda The Jedi Master." Hmph, building an ego, big shot? Next thing
you know he'll be showing off his lightsaber or something. He also
comes with a utility belt - not the cool Batman kind, but a little
belt that has what looks like a little pouch, a pan flute, and that
little light he fought R2 over. Oh, there's also his cloth robe.
Jeez, this guy has a lot of stuff.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:

1. Yoda, frickin' Jedi Master, dawg.

2. The figure is the only time you will see Yoda smile. In the movies he's always harshin' Luke's buzz.

3.
Re-enact the R2 / Yoda featherweight bout! In this corner, a
scrappy little tin head! In the other corner, a guy who can lift an
X-Wing and land it on your head!

4. He's got his own playset - who else is going to levitate those containers? Luke? I don't think so.

Yoda
left his home planet (never revealed, nor his race - even though we
see another of his race in Episode I) almost 900 years before the
Battle of Yavin. He crash-landed with a human friend on a swampy
planet (possibly Dagobah) where a Jedi Master revealed them both to
be Force-sensitive and trained them. They were rescued after their
training.

About 100 years later Yoda
started training his first student, and was a teacher and master
since that time. Yoda became a member of the ruling Jedi Council,
and in Episode I through III saw the rise of Anakin to Vader, and
barely avoided detection, escaping to Dagobah during the Jedi purge.
He was found later by Anakin's son Luke, who he trained before
passing away, and becoming one with the Force.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Ah,
the X-Wing Fighter! If you played with Star Wars figures and had
one vehicle, chances are it was this one. And chances are, if you
still have it today, you've lost the wing guns. That's okay, someone
is always selling spares on Ebay.

The X-Wing is
one of the first Star Wars vehicles to come out, evidenced by the
"12-back" cards from the first figures that advertised it. Although
not truly to scale (the nose is stubby and it is a little too small
compared to the figures - if you look at the movie) no kid really
noticed. They were just excited to have something to fly around the
room and shoot at things.

The X-Wing featured wings
that could open (press down R2's head) and close (move the blue
toggle switch next to R2) and electronic shooting noises and light
(other blue button next to R2). Of course, toy technology being what
it was, the noises weren't movie-authentic, but then again, what
kid truly cared? The front landing skid could be put down or up, and
the cockpit could be opened or closed to accommodate one figure.
Unfortunately, Luke in X-Wing outfit was the only X-Wing pilot made in
the original line. There wasn't even a Wedge until the new line,
and he starred in all three movies!

The initial
X-Wing was molded in white, but in subsequent releases for ESB and
ROTJ, it was molded in gray and included battle-damage decals. The
black wing guns could be taken off to simulate it getting damaged or
whatever scenario your little mind could imagine.

Why should you get this vehicle? Five reasons:

1. It's the X-Wing! You get a TIE Fighter and you're all set for one hell of a dogfight.

2. The first vehicle-designed figure came out for THIS vehicle. Hell, the TIE pilot didn't even come out until ESB.

3.
Yes, it sucked that you couldn't put your R2 figure in the socket,
but you just had to love pressing that head to make the wings go up
and down. Up and down. Up and down.

5.
Even though the emphasis was on the wing-guns, they still managed
to add the torpedo-launchers as a detail on the underside. Yeah, I
didn't notice this either for quite awhile after having it.

Backstory:

The
Incom T-65 X-Wing was a versatile fighter for the Rebel Alliance
(all the designers for it defected to the Rebellion rather than let
the designs fall to the Empire). Precursor fighters can be seen in
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, in the opening battle. Unlike TIE
fighters, X-Wings possessed both shields and a hyperdrive (for quick
hit-and-run sorties), and proton torpedo launchers. It also had a
socket for astromech droids to help with navigation and ship
operations. The X-like wings could be closed or locked open (s-foils,
short for "stability" or "strike" foils) for various maneuvers.
Variations of the X-Wing were in operation for quite a while, and, of
course, was the vehicle instrumental in destroying both Death
Stars.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Both
the Ewoks and Droids cartoon series of figures continued the
inclusion of coins with the figures. The characters that were
duplicated from the Star Wars line had different coins that depicted
their cartoon image rather than their movie appearance. The figures
were also, obviously, cartoonish in nature rather than their movie
appearance, and Wicket was no exception.

Cartoon Wicket, like his ROTJ counterpart, just comes with a spear, and some kind of hairy kewpie doll look on his face.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:

1. With only six figures, it’s pretty easy to collect this whole line.

2. Have a pretend fight with Wicket vs. his evil, cartoonish clone.

3. There were 4 bad guys in this line, and only two good guys. You need Wicket to try and make things right.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Wicket
is, in my humble opinion, the worst deal for your money in the
history of Star Wars figures. Why? It is the smallest, and for an
accessory we just get the one little spear he poked Leia with (not in
the Biblical sense). If you picked this card up by the back you
might not even realize it had a figure attached – that’s how small
it is. This is the only figure that needed a magnifying glass
instead of a coin in the POTF line.

Wicket, the
Ewok that inexplicably comes with three names, came on an ROTJ and a
POTF card. The ROTJ card came in two variations: spear on right and
spear on left.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:

1. Despite its miniscule size, its arms and legs are still articulated.

2. It is a very accurate figure compared to the character.

3. Your dog chewed your other figures, but he swallowed this one. Wait, is that a plus?

4. Finally, a figure that can fit in your “fifth” jeans pocket. And get lost in there.

5. When you rigged the Ewok catapult for full launch capability, Wicket went the farthest.

Backstory:

Wicket
Wystri Warrick was born to Deej (father) and Shodu (mother) in
Bright Tree Village. His close friends were Kneesaa, Teebo, and
Latara. He was probably about 12 years old when Empire built the
second death star over his home planet of Endor. Prior to that time
he had many adventures with his friends in the wilds of Endor (as
shown in the Ewok animated series and the two Ewok movies). During
ROTJ he befriended Leia and helped the Rebellion defeat the Empire.
After ROTJ Wicket eventually married Kneesaa and succeeded Chief
Chirpa as head of the village.

In the movie he was
played by Warwick Davis, who went on to play him in the two Ewok
movies. He also starred in another Lucas film, Willow. Wicket was
originally supposed to be played by Kenny Baker, but he was sick
that day. Baker then played Paploo, the one that stole the speeder
bike.

Friday, August 16, 2013

That
George Hamilton-like leathery skin and tan? It must be a Weequay!
Seriously, no other figure so epitomizes a Hutt guard. Except maybe a
Barada. Or a Nikto. Well, a Klaatu too. Oh yeah, Gamorrean Guard has “guard” in the name. Okay, so that theory is shot to hell.

Weequay
is another Jabba palace regular, and more fodder for Luke and the
gang’s escape from Jabba’s clutches. It comes with a force pike, the
same one used to prod Luke off the end of the gangplank on the
skiff. That was Weequay’s shining moment. Well, that, and screaming
on the way down to the Sarlacc pit. Weequay only came on a ROTJ
card.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:

1. When you make your Sarlacc pit, you’re going to need a lot of figure fodder.

2. That tan wrinkled skin, the raggedy braids. Clearly this figure is vying for your attention.

3. If you were one of the lucky few to actually own a toy Skiff, you needed Weequay just for that gangplank moment.

Weequays
comes from the planet or Sriluur, a hostile desert planet,
explaining their leathery skin and more hooded eyes. Because of
Sriluur’s proximity to Hutt space, many Weequays hire themselves out
as mercenaries to Hutt factions.

Weequay society is
very tribal, and members can communicate through pheromones, but
not to members of a different tribe. Members are often so into the
tribe they simply refer to themselves as their race rather than by
name. Males have hair, which they braid for every year they are
off-planet, and females are usually bald. They had two gods, one of
which was Quay the moon god. Their race’s name literally means
“follower of Quay.”

Weequays are found throughout the galaxy – working for Hutts, as bounty hunters, or even as Jedi in the Clone Wars.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Oh
good gravy there are a lot of Ewok figures! The worse thing is
there are still more to post and we're already in the "W's!" Warok
is simply another one of our fine furry friends, and he comes with a
bow, a quiver slung over his shoulder, and a removable cowl. He
only came on a POTF card with a coin, so he is still rarer and more
collectible than some other more likable characters.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:
1. One of the few coin figures, so he’s simply more collectible.

2. No one can help hijack an AT-ST like Warok.

3. His name sounds like a He-Man figure or something. Hey, just saying.

4. Wow! A bow! A quiver! I’m an archer, so I must have this! (Disclaimer: I am not an archer.)

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Another
in Kenner’s line of monsters-that-tried-to-kill-Luke, the wampa is
available by himself. This, in itself, is kind of lame. The wampa is
not big, like the rancor.
You cannot fit someone in its mouth, like the rancor. He has no
accessories – well, neither does the rancor, but you can put someone in
its mouth!

The
“Wampa Snow Creature from HOTH” (or “Hoth Wampa” on later boxes)
came in an ESB box, and featured spring loaded arms that could be
pulled back to…swing. Presumably this was to knock Luke off his tauntaun. It sported short,stubby legs, which were neither fear-inspiring nor menacing. Due
to the many different versions of the wampa prop (they tried
stop-motion, a guy in a suit, a puppet, etc) Kenner might not have
gotten this exactly right, and it may be more of a hybrid of body
parts.

3. Your tauntaun numbers are getting out of hand. A predator helps control the population.

4. Best catcher on the baseball team. Look at those mitts!

5. Those dreamy vacant eyes.

Background:

Wampas were indigenous to Hoth, and fed mainly on tauntauns, but would eat other creatures as well. Mainly
solitary hunters, they would only eat when hungry, but hunt and
store prey in their cave (like Luke) for later consumption. Echo
Base came under many attacks by these creatures, and there was even
a deleted scene from ESB where C-3PO rips a warning sign off a
wampa room, and some unaware snowtroopers run into it.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Walrus
Man is another poorly (many would say humorously) translated
Cantina character into figure as far as clothing goes. This garish
presentation wouldn’t be corrected until the updated figure in the
1990’s line. Sometimes it hurts my eyes just to look at it, like the
tint on my TV is way out of whack. The figure has an, um, orange
turtleneck, with blue arms and legs. It came with the same blaster
that many of the Star Wars aliens came with, a Stormtrooper-issue
model. Walrus Man came on the original Star Wars card, as well as ESB
and ROTJ.

What always bothered me about this
figure, other than the eye-straining colors, was that the card back
wasn’t a photo but a photo-like picture. This character had real
screen time and they couldn’t put a real photo on there? Really, I
joke (Hasbro give me free stuff). Not only that, but the picture
shows – glaringly – that the figure has the wrong clothing.

Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:

1. Common weaponry. Lose the figure and you’ve still got a gun that goes with a dozen other figures.

2. It is so damn funny. Orange turtleneck. Orange turtleneck!!!???

3. Again, no Cantina scene you make should be without him. After all, he gets his arm cut off.

4.
Get enough of these and put them around a sleeping friend. When he
wakes up convince him he’s having some kind of acid trip.

5. Finally, you have an excuse for ripping the arm off a figure – it happened in the film!

Backstory:

Like
many of the aliens names from the original films, Walrus Man was
more of nickname than anything else. In the mythos, his name is Ponda
Baba and his race is Aqualish. Because of the mix-up in the
original movie, where the standing Walrus Man has webbed hands and
the severed arms has hairy fingers, the Star Wars universe says that
there are two species of Aqualish, each having one of these traits.
So, in actuality, Ponda is kind of a hybrid. It is also never
explained why his is the only lightsaber wound that isn’t instantly
cauterized.

Ponda Baba rescued Doctor Evazan (the
other bad guy in the Cantina) from a bounty hunter and the two
became partners. Eventually they ran into Luke and Obi-Wan, who cut
off Ponda’s arm. Evazan made him a prosthetic arm which didn’t work,
but he kept trying to make Ponda whole, even trying a mind
transference device to another body. To this day they are probably
both still alive.

Monday, August 12, 2013

The
last of the Droids line! I know that I said previously that there
were only 12 figures produced in the Droids line. While that is very
much true for most purposes, in actuality there were 13. The last was
Vlix, but it only came out in Brazil, and only years after the rest of
the line. This figure was actually part of a second wave of Droids
figures that were never produced, except, mysteriously, this figure.
His
accessory is a blaster rifle molded in black that is very close to
the one with the Imperial Stormtrooper (Hoth Battle Gear).

Because of its one-country and delayed release (and scarcity at that) this is the rarest Star Wars action figure of them all. Forget the European-only released Yak Face, this is the one. Go ahead, I dare you to do a search on Ebay and find one. Even a loose authentic one is quite rare. The
only theory that anyone has as to this figure's reason for being is
that Kenner was trying to recoup costs associated with making the
molds for these unproduced figures, so they sold one to Glasslite, who
manufactures their figures in Brazil. Brazil also was the last holdout for the Sega Master System (a personal favorite of mine) where it continued on for years after other countries stopped getting new stuff for it.

Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:

1. Realistically – you can’t. Also, you probably couldn’t afford it if you could find it now.

2. Unless you’re Brazilian and living in the 1990’s, fugeddaboutit.

3. If you could own it, you would have the single most valuable Star Wars Kenner item.

4. Only 13 in the line, so why not own them all?

5. The best bodyguard in the entire SW universe...just kidding. General Grievous’ androids did a better job.

Backstory:

Vlix
Oncard was bodyguard/head of security to the Fromm gang. He was
friend to Tig Fromm, and served on the weapons satellite Trigon I
before it was destroyed. He was taken in by Boba Fett for the bounty
placed by Jabba the Hutt. His last name is a joke since the figure
was so hard to find “on card.”

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Simple - we put up an action figure a day. If you subscribe to us, a vintage Star Wars action figure / vehicle goes to your RSS reader daily. How much more nostalgia could you want? Remember to click on the pictures to see them up-close and full-size!